(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods for manufacturing a composite material structural component constituting part of an aircraft and to composite material structural components for aircraft.
(b) Description of the Related Art
The bodies of aircraft in flight, particularly, the leading edges of their wings, are often ice-coated. Such icing impairs the aerodynamics of aircraft. To cope with this, a technique is conventionally known in which an electric heater or a heat source using exhaust heat from the engine is attached to a part of the outer surface of a structural component of the aircraft likely to be ice-coated (see, for example, WO99/15405).
As disclosed also in the above gazette, composite materials have been recently used as structural components of aircraft. Such a composite material structural component, particularly its portions likely to be struck by lightning, such as wing leading edges, must have a lightning strike protection function to prevent damage from lightning strike. An example of such a lightning strike protection function is a structure in which a metal mesh is disposed on the outer surface of the composite material structural component, as disclosed, for example, in Published Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-219078.